Moscow could reignite Ukraine fighting: US diplomat
Washington, March 26, 2015 (AFP) -- The United States fears that Moscow and pro-Russian separatists will reignite the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine following a February ceasefire that has largely held, a US diplomat warned Wednesday.
"Russia can reignite the conflict at any time of its choosing," the senior State Department official told journalists.
"Everything that Russia has done since the second Minsk agreement suggests that they will hold that option open," the diplomat added.
The February ceasefire deal between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, agreed during marathon overnight talks in the Belarus capital, has largely held despite sporadic fighting along the frontline.
"Obviously there has been a dramatic decline in the level of violence" the diplomat said, but added that "there has not been a shift in Russia's strategic direction. Russia continues to send equipment across the border."
"We now know that the ceasefire after the first Minsk agreement (in September) was used by the Russians to run a very large 'train and equip' program," the diplomat said.
The United States has long accused Russia of sending heavy military equipment such as tanks and anti-missile systems into eastern Ukraine, a charge that Moscow denies.
American lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Monday to urge President Barack Obama to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons to defend itself against Russian "aggression," but the president has so far resisted calls.
Chechen Official Vows To Arm Mexico If U.S. Gives Weapons To Ukraine
By RFE/RL
A senior Chechen official has said that Russia will provide arms to Mexico if Washington supplies weapons to Ukraine.
Chechen parliament speaker Dukvakha Abdurakhmanov said the arms would be aimed at reigniting U.S.-Mexican disputes over “territories annexed by the United States in the American states of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and part of Wyoming.”
“We will perceive arms shipments to Ukraine as a signal to respond in kind,” Abdurakhmanov said in a March 24 statement posted on the Chechen parliament’s website.
Abdurakhmanov is a close associate of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed strongman who rules the Russian region.
Prominent American lawmakers have called on U.S. President Barack Obama to supply Ukraine with weapons they say will allow Kyiv to protect its territory against Russian-backed separatists.
The Obama administration has resisted the calls, saying the move could result in greater bloodshed between Ukrainian forces and the separatists in a conflict that has killed more than 6,000 people since April 2014.
Three Killed After Bus Hits Mine In Eastern Ukraine
Three people have been killed in eastern Ukraine after the bus they were riding in struck a land mine.
Officials said the bus was traveling from Artemivsk, a town controlled by government troops, to Horlivka, in a separatist-held area northeast of the city of Donetsk.
According to reports, the bus struck the mine when the driver tried to go around a checkpoint.
The wounded, numbering at least seven, were taken to a hospital in Artemivsk.
Elsewhere, President Petro Poroshenko was on hand at Kyiv's international airport to oversee a shipment of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, including 10 Humvee vehicles.
In total, Washington plans to send 200 regular Humvees, radios, countermortar radars and other nonlethal equipment worth $75 million.
U.S. President Barack Obama has so far refused to heed calls from Congress to send defensive arms and ammunition to Ukraine.
Based on reporting by AP and dpa
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